Uncle Harry
by LiveLaughLove728
Summary: "While the children were all very close with their aunts and uncles, close-knit as they all were with each other, there was no mistaking the obvious special liking they all had for Uncle Harry. Not to mention the liking he had for them."


**Hello! I hope you all have as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Enjoy!**

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The kitchen in the Burrow was alive with activity as Molly Weasley kept watch over the pots and pans simmering atop the stove, occasionally stirring themselves in time with her wand. This was not an unusual occurrence, as she had gotten in the habit, shortly after the war had ended, of enforcing a family dinner every Sunday for all her children to gather with their respective families for a decent meal. As the years passed and her family had grown steadily larger with the many grandchildren that had been and were still being born, Sunday dinners had turned into quite the affair, and as such, the accompanying weekly meal had also become rather extravagant. Molly, however, wouldn't have had it any other way and relished the opportunity Sundays presented her to cook—something she felt she hardly got the chance to do anymore, now that her children were all out of the house. They also, of course, allowed her the chance to see her grandchildren, which was easily her favorite part.

At half past four, after shooting down offers of help from more than one of her daughters-in-law, Molly was putting the finishing touches on the meal, which she planned to have ready and on the table by five. She hummed to herself as she worked and smiled contentedly as various conversations took place around her and young children ran about. Percy and Audrey had arrived moments ago with little Molly—known affectionately as Molly Ann as a means of distinguishing her from her grandmother, and nearly all of the family was present now, with the notable exception of one Harry Potter, who had yet to make an appearance.

Ginny had arrived alone a bit ago and had informed them all that Harry had been called into work earlier in the day and would be meeting her at the Burrow shortly. Currently, Molly's youngest was sat at the kitchen table behind her, chatting amiably with George and Ron about some new product they were planning on selling at the shop in the coming months. Percy and Hermione were with them, but seemed immersed in their own conversation and didn't appear to be paying attention to the others in the slightest. The rest of her children and their spouses were likely in the living room.

The family was celebrating Dominique's third birthday tonight and Charlie had even managed to catch a portkey home a few hours earlier and would be staying through the following day. It was the first time all of them would be together since Christmas three months earlier and Molly could hardly contain her excitement at the thought. She found herself glancing impatiently at the clock every few minutes in anticipation of the arrival of her missing son-in-law, who was apparently running late and hadn't bothered to owl ahead. Molly shook her head at the thought, but couldn't find it in herself to muster any real annoyance. The current noise and chaos of the Burrow had her in much too good a mood for that.

As if on cue, she could just make out the _pop_ of Apparition above the noise of the kitchen and glanced out the window to see her only son-in-law and youngest son by every right, still in his ministry robes, making his way from the paddock. She smiled to herself. A minute later, the kitchen door opened and Harry stepped inside to called greetings from everyone present. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized, "My meeting ran late. I left the moment it ended."

"No worries, dear," Molly replied, moving forward to hug him, "You're here now."

"Yeah, and we didn't even get to eat without you," George called in mock disappointment.

"Pity, that," Harry answered easily, grinning, and crossed to kiss Ginny's cheek. Ginny smiled at the gesture and Molly found herself mimicking her daughter's action. The two had been married for almost three years now, and yet Ginny still lit up the moment Harry entered a room. And he did the same with her. Molly found it very sweet.

Before Harry had the chance to even straighten back up again, he was assaulted by a small projectile with blue hair in the form of Teddy Lupin, who launched himself at his godfather. "HARRY!" he exclaimed, drawing out the "Y" at the end of Harry's name. Ginny had spent the day with Teddy and had brought him along with her to the Burrow, to be dropped back home with his grandmother later. Harry had just enough time to turn around and catch Teddy before the little boy collided with him.

Teddy was followed very shortly after by a small stampede in the form of Victoire, Dominique, and Molly, aged four, three, and two respectively, who, with varying shouts of "Uncle Harry!" launched themselves at him as well. Harry, braced for impact, took the hit easily, laughing.

"Hey!" he greeted them all, grinning from ear to ear. He hugged each one in turn, surrounded by his nieces and Teddy, who could hardly contain themselves in excitement at his arrival. They'd been anxiously waiting for him since they'd gotten to the Burrow themselves.

While the children were all very close with their aunts and uncles, close-knit as they all were with each other, there was no mistaking the obvious special liking they all had for Uncle Harry. Not to mention the liking he had for them. Out of all of Molly's children, Harry was the one who was most likely to be seen wrestling on the floor with Teddy, or allowing himself to be subjected to the whims of his nieces which had led to him more than once requiring cleaning charms from Molly to remove the Muggle nail polish they left him covered in, much to the entertainment of his brothers-in-law. Simply put, Harry couldn't say no to any of the kids, and they adored him for it. There was no denying that he was exceptionally good with them, and Molly adored seeing it. It was still amazing to her that the shy, neglected little boy who had asked for her help at Kings Cross Station all those years ago and had seen and endured way more than anyone should ever have to had grown into such a loving, gentle-hearted man. He brought them all so much joy.

The spectacle created in the kitchen had easily shifted all attention to Harry and the children, and all eyes were on them as everyone in the room laughed in amusement. One-year old Louis had tottered in behind the other children, still learning to navigate on his feet, and approached now, laughing and squealing with the rest of them, copying what he saw. Harry, grinning widely, released Molly Ann, who had been last in line for hello hugs, and lifted Louis off his feet. He squealed in excitement, doing his best to mimic his sisters and cousins with "Un-ca!" _Uncle._

Harry laughed, ruffling the little boy's platinum hair. "Hi, Louis!" The rest of the children, not to be outdone, continued to vie for their favorite uncle's attention.

"Harry, Harry, guess what!" Teddy cried, "We built a fort!"

"You did?" Harry asked him in interest, "Brilliant!"

"Daddy helped," Victoire put in.

"It's so cool! It's in the living room!" Teddy continued.

Dominique, jumping up and down, said, "Come see! Uncle Harry, come see!"

"Yeah!" the other children chorused.

"Come on!" Teddy crowed.

"Okay, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Harry laughed and, with Louis gripped firmly in one arm, Molly's arm hooked tight around his right knee, and Victoire dragging him by his other hand, he went with them all to the living room and relative peace was restored to the Burrow's kitchen as quickly as it had gone when Harry arrived. Most of the kitchen's occupants were still laughing at the display. Ginny, who had watched the scene play out with a fond smile on her face, looked on after her husband now, still smiling. Noticing her mother's wistful eyes on her, she turned toward her and, smiling wider, playfully rolled her eyes at Molly in recognition of her obvious thoughts before turning back to Ron and George, who had gone back to the conversation they'd been having a few minutes ago. Molly, still smiling, just sighed and shook her head a bit before giving the food another stir and looking toward the living room.

From her position at the stove, she could see far enough inside the room to view Harry there with the children while, she assumed, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Audrey, and Angelina, all out of sight, were sat on and around the sofa, watching. She watched her grandchildren pester their uncle until he relented, without much in the way of resistance in the first place, and began crawling into the blanket fort after them, much to their delight. Chuckling to herself, Molly turned back to the task at hand.

Harry and Ginny had been married at the ripe ages of twenty and nineteen respectively. At the time, they'd been just starting to settle into their careers, both of which were demanding. They'd married out of obvious love and were clearly made for each other, as even Ginny's brothers, who bordered on overprotective at times when it came to their sister, could not deny, though having children had been the furthest thing from either of their minds at the time. And rightfully so, as they'd been rather young; though Molly and Arthur had been younger still when they'd married and had Bill shortly thereafter. Still, with the busyness of their lives at the time, keeping it just the two of them had been wise of Harry and Ginny. Now, however, both were older and, if not less busy, at least better settled into their adult lives, and Molly was starting to wonder if their plans for a family had changed yet. Yes, she had plenty of grandchildren, whom she adored, from her older boys, and the number was steadily growing year by year, but some things one could never have too many of in life and grandchildren was one of those things. Ron and Hermione had only just gotten married, and George and Angelina were still engaged; if Charlie ever settled down it would be nothing short of a miracle, but the Potters, as far as she was concerned, were a bit overdue by this point. And Harry was just so great with the little ones. He would make such a fantastic father one day.

Molly had talked with her daughter a few months earlier about when she and Harry planned to add to the lot, and Ginny had adamantly informed her that they were planning to wait a few more years. "It's kind of hard to play professional Quidditch with a baby at home," she'd said matter-of-factly, "We do both want kids and plan to have them someday. But for now I think we're happy the way things are." Molly would just as easily have had Ginny retire from the Harpies and settle down sooner rather than later, if only because it was such a dangerous career path, though she was incredibly proud and thrilled that Ginny was doing what she loved. She still wondered though.

A few minutes later, the meal was ready to be served and, with the help of Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, the table had been set and all the food was being assembled atop it. Molly made her way from the kitchen into the living room where the rest of her family was located and the sounds of several conversations sounded. As expected, the majority of them were seated on the sofa and various armchairs that crowded the cozy living room; Charlie sat on the floor, his back resting against the foot of the sofa. Bill had gotten up, judging from the empty space next to Fleur, and was helping Victoire reconstruct the fort that had, from the looks of things, collapsed. Harry was on the floor, lying on his stomach at the bottom of a dog pile beneath the rest of the children. Molly had walked in just as her younger namesake had made a running jump and added herself to the heap of bodies—Molly winced inwardly but Harry, at a spry twenty-three, didn't seem fazed—while Louis, seated on the floor by his uncle's head, looked on in curiosity with a hand in his mouth. Judging from the way Harry's body shook beneath them all, Molly was positive he was laughing hysterically. The children certainly were and the adults in the room who were paying attention laughed along with them.

Most of the eyes turned to Molly as she stood in the doorway momentarily, watching. "Dinner's ready," she informed her family members after a minute, smiling. Victoire, losing interest as Bill finished repairing the fort, turned toward her grandmother and smiled beatifically as her aunts and uncles began filing obediently from the room. She followed Bill out. Molly Ann and Dominique, after wiggling around a bit, managed to get to their feet next to their uncle, but Teddy stayed put, still giggling. Dominique went to stand beside her mother, who had picked Louis up, still talking to Audrey, and followed the women from the room.

Harry turned and looked at his mother-in-law from the floor, smirking at her amused expression before turning further to look at Teddy the best he could. "You heard Grandma Molly, mate. Time for dinner."

"No," Teddy protested, unmoving, "Don't wanna stop."

"You have to," Harry said, "If you don't eat your dinner, how will you grow up to be big and strong?"

"Wanna keep playing," Teddy protested.

"I know," Harry sympathized, lifting himself up slightly with Teddy still on his back and rolling until the young metamorphmagus was on the floor next to him.

This was apparently great fun, because the little boy giggled. "Again!" Little Molly ran over, also laughing and asking for a turn. Harry was already on his feet though.

"Come on, mate," he told Teddy, "The sooner you eat dinner, the sooner you can play again. Teddy seemed to consider this logic for a moment, and then, apparently deciding it was sound, got up easily.

Molly Ann was still waiting. "My turn," she said, looking at Harry.

Harry grinned. "Your turn?"

"Yeah!" the little girl cried excitedly.

"Okay," Harry told her, matching her enthusiasm, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay!" Harry said, moving as he said it to scoop the little girl into his arms Molly collapsed in a fit of giggles as he lifted her, with accompanying sound affects. "Molly Ann," he told his giggling niece in a playful tone, "When did you get so big, huh?" struggling playfully under her weight, "You're going to break my back, you're so heavy!" The two-year old was still laughing.

Teddy was jumping excitedly in front of his godfather. "Me too, me too!" he cried.

"You too?" Harry asked, "I can't lift you _too_ , Ted. Then I'll really break my back. You're way bigger than Molly. I'll tell you what though," he said.

"What?"

"We'll race ya! Last one to the kitchen is a rotten occamy egg!"

"No!" Teddy shrieked, giggling, and took off toward the kitchen. Harry, laughing and still carrying Molly Ann, alone now in the living room except for Molly in the doorway, stepped toward her and met her eyes. Molly raised her eyebrows at her son-in-law. Harry smiled and shook his head, embarrassed.

"Nicely handled, Uncle Harry," she complimented him, smiling.

Harry chuckled, "Thank you."

"Now," she said, stepping aside to let Harry through the doorway first, "Let's go eat before the food I've spent all day cooking gets cold, shall we?"

"Yes, Mum," he answered and obediently carried Molly Ann to the kitchen, where Audrey and Percy cast him matching smiles as their little girl was hand delivered to them. Harry then sat down next to Ginny, who was smiling fondly at him again, and Molly, taking her own seat, thought she saw a bit of wistfulness in her daughter's expression as well.

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 **Because I imagine that Harry would be a huge ball of mush when it comes to the little kids. :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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